Greatness

"Greatness is not a function of circumstance."

-Jim Collins

Last year I attended a conference in which one of the speakers was Mr. Jim Collins. I thoroughly enjoyed his talk. Jim Collins as given many talks, and written many books, about the topic of greatness, mostly within the business world. A couple of his main topics include: How to become great and how to stay great.

One of the most important parts of any Jim Collins talk/book goes back to the quote above, Greatness is not a function of circumstance. Simply put this means that it doesn't matter where you are born, to whom you are born, or what financial class you were born into. What matters is having a desire, passion, discipline, and vision for a particular goal. In order to be successful and become great (yes there is a difference) you must find your vision and figure out where you have the ability to be the best right now. Not where you can EVENTUALLY be the best, where you can be the best. I keep going back to this mans speaking and writing as encouragement for my own endeavors. Mainly Living Hope Camping Foundation.

Living Hope is my vision for the future to provide the opportunity for underprivileged youth to attend local Christian summer camp in the their area. A non-profit seeking to award scholarships for summer camp may seem to some to be unnecessary but I assure you it is not.

Take Bethany (Names changed for privacy) for example. Bethany did not come from a poor background, but not a rich one either, so camp was out of the question. Not only was Bethany's family's budget somewhat tight, they were a christian family. All that said, when the local mission provided a summer camp for low-cost ($100 or less) Bethany was immediately signed up and attended camp. Bethany hada great time on the ropes course, swimming in the lake, and even in the archery range, but the biggest impact camp had on her was bible study and praise and worship. Bethany was impacted so much, and learned so much during one little week of camp that, on Thursday, she prayed with me for Jesus to come into her heart. Bethany learned about and accepted Jesus into her heart for the first time through the opportunity to attend summer camp. Where is Bethany now? To be honest I don't know, staying in touch with campers after camp, by a summer staff employee is not a good idea, but I know that she took the word of God and brought it into her home. Even if she falls away for a time, the seed of Jesus was planted in her life during one week of summer camp.

Summer camp is a powerful experience for countless kids and it can bring kids to the word of God, take kids out of bad family situations (sometimes abusive), and give kids positive role models in addition to, or in replacement of, their parents. I have said many times on this blog that Living Hope is going to happen, and that is very true, but the truth is, the flywheel is already in motion. It may not be visible to the outsider, but it truly is cranking, albeit slowly, and Living Hope is always looking for supporters and prayer warriors. Living Hope is coming, Living Hope will provide the camping experience for countless children, and Living Hope is going to do this under the blessing, guidance, and love of a great God in heaven who desires that no one perish regardless of circumstance.

Arizona shootings

I write tonight in honor of those whom lost their lives in Arizona during the shootings that occured this past weekend. It is truly a sad thing when men and women take their protests to this level. Remember to keep the families and friends of the lost in prayer regardless of the fact that you don't know any of these people. And of course don't forget those who were injured, I pray that these people return to full health soon. As humans we cannot understand what possible good can come out of these unfortunate events or why they are allowed to happen but pray God can use this event to bring someone into His arms and into eternity one day.

When these events occur many pray for the victims, the families, and their friends while also discussing the fate of the perpetrators, however, is this right? Certainly! Or at least the first half is right. Often we forget to pray for the men or women who committ these horrible and violent acts. We must remember that God loves these people too, and that He wants them in His kingdom throughout eternity. I realize concern for criminals is tough, and even tougher when you are close to the victim, but we need to strive to be like Jesus. Jesus forgave the very people who sentenced him to death, beat him in horrible and unimagible ways, and hung Him on a cross. It was these very people of whom He died because of, and to save. I realize Jesus was and is exceptionally good but we must pray for everyone. Remember to include the shooter in your prayers. Remember to pray that God will take this event and bring someone into His gracious arms of forgiveness.